CharlesW

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My Dad showed Russia how to build a polyethylene plant sometime in the 50's. Don't know what the price was, but apparently when built it was trumpeted as yet another achievement of Soviet science. Then a few years later the...

When we stayed in a flat in St Petersburg a few years back our host (an educated woman BTW) left the hot tap running 24/7 because hot water was totally free (came from a massive centralised heating system somewhere, she...

I am wondering how the slow AI Corporations are subject to evolution: They seem to have a fairly short lifetime, and can certainly evolve their processes and methods and copy successful methods from other corporations, and in general their ability...

I agree that it seems very unlikely that the Tories will win the next 4 elections: Labour will get its act/leadership together at some point in this period. The Tories will be suffering from cumulative bad news/fatigue damage, and enough...

I was assuming (for the sake of example) that at least one English person resident in Scotland voted SNP and would therefore be entitled to say that they were offended at being described as Scottish and that my (probably fallacious)...

OK - how about "Everyone who votes for the SNP is Scottish" - that will probably offend some of the English people who voted for the SNP and according to the definition will therefore be considered a racist statement, although...

there are many Scots in Whitehall/Victoria St in central London Just imagine the paranoia that will exist in the Westminster negotiation team about their positions being leaked, and senior people jumping ship mid negotiation!...

So if Brexit takes 2 years even with cliff-edge encouragement Scexit could take even longer and tie up large quantities of resource from both administrations. And I can't see either party agreeing to a hard cliff-edge. Presumably an independent Scotland...

Could someone knowledgeable please enlighten me as to why there is so much pressure to hold Indyref2 as soon as possible, as opposed to when the Brexit dust has settled? (Ignoring the obvious opportunistic reasons)...

So fake numbers rule. Long term as you say I am sure an independent Scotland would be fine, but shorter term, presumably a majority or a very large part of Scotland's trade is with rUK rather than EU? ... WTO...

Thanks, I got misled into thinking the GERS http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2016/08/2132 numbers originated from the Scottish parliament website: you would think they could fix that impression easily enough. So your link says the numbers provided are dubious but are there any better...

The economic case for SCEXIT looks bad according to David Smith in the Times based on data from GERS. But Sturgeon has probably forced May to defer INDYREF2 past conclusion of the final BREXIT terms so more than 2 years...

I agree: looks to only have very narrow applicability. The basis of the 10% dominance theory is stated only to apply to "situations where the cost associated with changing one’s opinion is low, or where changes in state are not...

Interesting paper but I wonder how applicable the binary agreement model (which is the basis of the mathematics) is to real-world politics in the US and UK: I think the key sentence is this: "The binary agreement model is well...

"Our only hope is an amendment requiring a second referendum on the terms offered ( I think )" "As I've said before on here, this is not possible by the EU rules." I agree that is what the treaty rules...

My flash-bulb evening: A small group of us were working late at MSoft Redmond with a bunch of softies. So when we left at 18:45 we had to get a lift back to Bellevue from the Microsoft campus with Joe...

Well I am 20 something years older than you so from my experience in another few years maybe you will get over the mid-life imposter syndrome and accept that you are who you are etc etc More seriously my parents...

No democratically elected government can afford to let a significant number of its citizens starve to death. If you are looking for disaster scenarios - a medium term (probably within 10 years) better than evens disaster scenario is when the...

The economics don't look good for ScotNatRef2 and it seems unlikely that the EU would offer any economic support for Scotland EU. With UK out I would have thought that Scotland would have to bite the Euro bullet. And RUK...

Facts: He has an E grade for 2 A levels. He started a course in Trade Union Studies at North London Polytechnic but left after disagreeing with his tutors about the curriculum. I don't see how you can describe that...

Some facts: - corbyn's educational level is poor - for example continuing Trident but without the missiles IS stupid - what leadership experience or qualities are on record? - Labour MPs expecting to lose seats: any counter-evidence available? - Left-voting...

Corbyn has bigger problems than the Media: - He appears sincere but stupid - He does not seem to have any leadership qualities or experience - An increasing number of Labour MPs face losing their seats under his leadership -...

Proposition: The EU is a mess and needs major reform. If so then is reformable in the medium term? If it reformable then on this issue we should remain to try for a better reform than would be obtainable without...

From my (English) POV BREXIT is a tradeoff between economic loss and Brussels undemocratic bureaucracy. Both are hard to project into the medium/long-term and subject to large uncertainties. The idea of ever-closer EU union is pretty horrendous, but the projected...

Comment Threads

That's why Trump will probably be re-elected for a second term. I think not, from 5000+ miles away ... (!) Trump will be brought down/impeached/ removed & Pence installed, against a Dem-majority lower house 2018-20. Pence will then win in 2020 & a christofascist state ( Let's call it "Gilead" shall we? ) will over-ride the current arrangements....

Trump may be impeached - if the Dems are able to take back the House in 2018. However, it would take a miracle for the D's to get 60+ seats in the Senate. So they can impeach if they like, but the Senate won't convict. The most likely way for Trump not to finish his term is if he has some health-related catastrophe that leaves him incapacitated (or dead). This isn't unlikely, since he is 71 and doesn't eat healthy or generally take care of himself. However, that's not the way to bet either. Barring the unforeseen, Trump will be...

I hate to say this, Greg, but you are thinking like a rational man. What is happening is not rational, it is fear based. Think of the example you used of Europe in the 1930s. People rallied around a man who told them what they wanted to hear, who gave them a clear enemy to hate for all of their problems -- that he had all of the answers. People are afraid of losing whatever ground they have in their lives. Remember, an emergency that takes as little as $400 dollars can destroy them. You have a mix of slums...

This is the game that's being played. Until the Black woman had her half White girlfriend as part of the loan they could not get the loan. Struggle for black and Latino mortgage applicants suggests modern-day redlining Gentrification, Whites moving in to Black neighborhoods. This is what happened to Santa Fe. People had to sell, they could not get loans for home improvement. Blacks and Latinos say they have trouble getting home loans in Philadelphia. Here's what's happening...

Watch this: NRA backs Trump’s call for arming teachers: 'Schools must be the most hardened targets' Now watch this: Students who support gun rights say schools safer when ‘good guys’ are armed Now watch this. The Man in the High Castle Season 2 - We Pledge Allegiance... Are you paying attention....